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This post is almost a week late, but better that than never!

Last week weekend Matt's sister and her husband, Kristy and Kyle, came back to Oklahoma for a visit. We managed to cram quite a bit into those few days, and here are a few pictures I took.

One of the things on my 101 list was to go to an Oklahoma tourist site I hadn't been to yet, and this weekend helped me cross that off! We visited Pawnee Bill's Ranch in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Never heard of Pawnee Bill? I hadn't either, but check out the link, and you'll learn a few things. We have him to thank for Wild West shows. The Ranch has a museum and several old buildings including his mansion. The mansion was completed in 1910 and cost $100,000 to build. It was built with electricity and running water while the rest of the town of Pawnee still had dirt roads and horses and buggies. A little Oklahoma history for you :)

Colin on a little saddle. Adorable!

Here's another bit of Oklahoma history for you. Tabouli, a Lebanese dish, is very popular around here. Weird, right? That is because of a restaurant started by Fred Joseph. His ancestors brought a recipe for it with them to the United States, and when he opened his restaurant, he started serving it. Although his restaurant burned down, one of his nephews opened a new restaurant on the same site and called it Joseph's. They still serve the same tabouli, and over the years, many other restaurants have started serving it too.

We went to Joseph's on Saturday night as a pre-Mother's Day event. Here's a shot of Colin with his Grandpa!

And for the record, I think tabouli is disgusting. 

Friday they went to the aquarium. I opted out, but they took Colin and gave me a few baby-free hours! I guess Colin really liked it, but he was mad because the plexi-glass was keeping him out!

There's not much of a story behind this one, but I had to include it because he's so cute! We had a fun visit, and we can't wait for Kristy to have her baby in November so Colin has a cousin on the Tiner side!

A Little Laugh

Most teenagers these days have cell phones, and with those cell phones they do a lot of texting. In an attempt for parents to communicate better with their children, many adults have also started texting. If you are one of them, here's a bit of advice...make sure you have your child's phone number programmed into your phone correctly.

I got some text messages from a number I didn't recognize a few weeks ago, and I thought this was too funny not to share. Here's the first one that I got on a Thursday morning.

This one I got on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I don't know why this mother didn't change the programmed number after the first time I told her she had the wrong number...but I haven't gotten anymore since then, so hopefully she figured it out.

I wonder how much trouble this kid got into...

Motherhood

I love being a mom more than I ever thought I would. It is even better now that we have a bit of a routine and I can usually understand what Colin needs. With motherhood came the anticipated changes and hardships, but I have encountered many things over the last several months that I never even imagined.

For instance, hello hormones! Those first 3 or 4 months were full of crying and mood swings, and all I can say is I'm so glad I'm past that stage now.

I never considered the worry I would feel about, well, everything, but mostly concerning my child. Will he get hurt? Will he get sick? Is he sleeping okay? It never ends.

Breastfeeding is really painful at the beginning. Fair warning, skip to the next section if you have no desire to learn more about this :) Before Colin was born, I had little desire to breastfeed, but I had decided to give it at least a try because it was a cheaper option, and he would benefit from it. My plan was to do it for about a month, and during that time, pump as much as I could in order to continue giving him breast milk for a little longer than that. Well, he's 7 months old, and I'm still going strong and loving it! This didn't come without hardship the first month though. It hurt a LOT the first several weeks, once so much that I cried (and I consider myself to have high tolerance for pain). I even suffered from mastitis for several days, and my nipples cracked and bled a lot despite my frequent use of lanolin. In the end, the pain was well worth it, but it was quite a surprise for me when I started. I've read that breastfeeding isn't supposed to hurt, and if it does, you're not doing it right. I do NOT believe that.

Leaving the house takes a lot of work. I know--this is a given. But I had to come to terms with this many months ago, and in so doing, I always tell myself that I plan to leave 15 minutes earlier than I need to. This usually means that I will leave the house on time.

We are always wanting him to learn the next thing, but I need to slow down and enjoy what he's doing right now. He gets older every day, and I don't want to miss a minute of it. Not to mention, the more mobile he gets, the more trouble he can get into...

He can't walk or talk, but boy, does he have personality. Colin is extremely opinionated, and he lets me know when he's not happy. I love that at even such a young age, I can tell what sort of characteristics he will have even when he gets older.

I really wanted a cuddly baby, and for the first few months Colin was happy to oblige. Now, however, he refuses. In fact, it is almost impossible to get him to fall asleep if he is being held. Except when he was sick last week--I loved that I got to cuddle with him during his nap.

When my floors are littered with toys, I have no motivation to pick them up because they will just be pulled right back out.

If you made it to the end of this very long list, congratulations! I'm sure these things aren't all that interesting to most people, but I wanted to document a few of my feelings--especially because I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a mom yesterday.

I hope you all enjoyed the day as well!

A Visit From the Bagwells

The Bagwells used to be our next door neighbors in Provo when we first got married, and we became good friends with them during the 2 years be both lived in those apartments. This past week they packed up all of their stuff and are currently driving to the east coast, where Buck will start his new job in Connecticut.

Lucky for us, they decided to stop at our house along the way and stay for a few days! It was so great to see them, and although Millie is quite a bit older than Colin, I think he really enjoyed having her around to play with.

We did several things while they were here, but I only managed to take a few pictures. Enjoy!

Thank you Aquarium App on the iPad for occupying them for a few minutes

This is serious talent: wrangling two small children while talking on the phone.

Millie really liked the walk-through of Western Auto.

Buck and Colin before our tour of the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory.
We got to eat ice cream fresh off the line. Amazing.

Millie enjoyed the tour, but apparently not the Blue Bell Ice Cream hat.

Extra Protein

I've heard people say that if you eat a little dirt, it's okay--it's just a little extra protein. Well, does the same principle apply to paper? I sure hope so because the other day I found this:

It looks like we have a bit of a mouse problem in our house.
Good thing our mouse is so cute!
Sometimes we just call him Trouble.

Favorite Things (According to Colin)

Colin is discovering new things every day. Some of his discoveries are good...some bad...but through all of that he has decided on a few favorites.

Things he has learned to love include the outdoors. He loves playing outside. He loves swings, sun, and grass. He loves it all. Hopefully this means one day he will go camping with his dad so I don't ever have to!

This picture showcases three more of my favorite things: these two cute boys and a swing. Random fact: I have loved swinging since I first learned how in preschool, and I go to parks with swings any chance I get.

Colin loves making everything into a toy. This includes any and all electronics, glasses, outlets, cords, vent covers, door stoppers, etc.

Ever since we started letting him drink from a cup, if he sees either of us with one he's sure he needs it too. He opens his mouth and says, "uh uh uh."

Colin's favorite spot in the house is right between the couch and recliner in our living room where we keep his toy basket. Several times a day he will wiggle his way in there just to hang out.

One of Colin's favorite activities is exploring. Today he ventured off the carpet in the living room onto the tile in the entryway. This may very well be his new favorite room. He played with the vent cover for several minutes before crawling over to the glass door and staring outside for awhile. 

One thing that will be at the top of my "to do" list for the next several months: keep all of my floors very clean.

I know what you're thinking right now--"he's so cute!" 

And I definitely agree with you :)

Favorite Things

I like that one picture, and not only that, but one item can represent so many of my favorite things.

flip flops
warm weather
sparkly things
the color pink

I love spring!